Hayden Panettiere Addresses Recent Interview In Which She Appeared To Be Intoxicated

Hayden Panettiere is speaking out after a video of her went viral for all the wrong reasons.

“I would like to take a moment to address the controversy surrounding an interview I recently completed,” Panettiere said in an Instagram post published Sunday . “It’s unfathomable that I’m even in this position, but I feel forced to address it in a space where I won’t be criticized for how fast or slow I speak.”

Last week, People magazine’s Instagram accountpublished a controversial teaser clipfrom a larger on-camera interview they recently conducted with Panettiere, who is promoting her upcoming film, “Amber Alert.”

In the clip, the “Heroes” star appears visibly tired, frazzled and speaks very slowly as she tells an anecdote about her young daughter, Kaya. Her demeanor in the clip caused many Instagram users to assume she was intoxicated, noting that her “speech was slurred” and her eyes “could barely stay open.”

Some also speculated that she was having a mental health crisis or was on or off a medication that could have altered her behavior.

Being that Panettiere has been open in the past about her struggles with substance abuse and alcohol addiction, Instagram users condemned People for publishing the clip as well, calling it “exploitative” and demanded the magazine delete the clip from its account.

In Panettiere’s Instagram statement Sunday, she said she was suffering from a lack of sleep and was “exhausted” by the time she sat down for the on-camera interview with People.

“I hadn’t slept for two days prior to the shoot due to one of my dogs who was recovering from an emergency surgical procedure,” the “Remember the Titans” actor said. “It was an 8-hour shoot followed by an on-camera interview that was supposed to last